Leaders of the Anglican Church have gathered in Tanzania for a summit which is likely to be dominated by the divisive issue of homosexuality. The conservative majority is fiercely opposed to those who believe the church should accept gay clergy members. The controversy threatens to create a schism in the 38 national churches which make up the Anglican Communion. A spokesman for the leader of the world's Anglicans said it looks like it may be a "difficult conference". The head of the Anglican Church and Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has said that he fears that the Church may split over the row sparked by the appointment of openly gay US bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003.... http://news.bbc.co.uk

The Iraqi government formally launched a long-awaited security crackdown in Baghdad on Wednesday, with U.S. and Iraqi troops stepping up patrols, setting up new checkpoints and randomly searching cars to stop the violence in the capital. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the sweep, code-named Operation Imposing Law, would target those "who want to continue with rebellion." There were conflicting reports, meanwhile, about the whereabouts of Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia have been blamed in some of the worst sectarian killings in the past year, after a U.S. official said the radical Shiite cleric had fled to Iran ahead of the security operation. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the chief U.S. military spokesman, insisted that al-Sadr had left the country, although he declined to comment on the reasons or give other details. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2874740

Diplomatic hostility between the US and Iran is swelling. Iran's neighbors worry about what some think is a prelude to military aggression -- and they don't trust the Americans or the mullahs in Tehran. The relationship between Iran and Iraq is both complicated and simple, and its essence can be seen every couple of days in the northern border town of Hajj Umran. Whenever Baghdad calls a new state of emergency, the large cast iron gate at the Hajj Umran border checkpoint closes. A peshmerga or Kurdish soldier from the Iraqi side positions himself in front of the gate with his Kalashnikov rifle. To an untrained eye the border looks sealed; only the faces of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his successor Ali Khameini peer across the border from a wall on the Iranian side. For the Iraqi and Iranian smugglers who struggle up the mountain pass every day, though, it's just an annoyance. ...http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,466351,00.html

Autopsies have been completed on three undocumented immigrants who were fatally shot last week in the desert northwest of Tucson.Each of the victims died from a single gunshot wound, said Lt. Michael O'Connor of the Pima County Sheriff's Office.Some of the victims were carrying identification but investigators are not sure if it was real so they are processing fingerprints through a national database to determine their identities, O'Connor said.County authorities found a vehicle with blood in it Tuesday that may be linked to the Feb. 8 shooting incident that killed three people and wounded two others.On Monday, a daylong ground and air search failed to turn up new evidence tied to the shootings, said Rick Kastigar, criminal investigations chief for the Pima County Sheriff's Department...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251910,00.html

DaimlerChrysler is to cut 13,000 jobs at its loss-making US unit Chrysler. The German-US group also said it would close one Chrysler factory as it continues efforts to turn around the struggling US operation. Hit by falling sales, which were down 7% in the US last year, Chrysler has a total workforce of 83,000 people. Like fellow "Big Three" US carmakers Ford and General Motors, Chrysler has been hit by tough competition from Japanese rivals. Ford and GM are already cutting thousands of jobs in the US in an effort to reduce costs and improve their competitiveness. The Chrysler plant that will close is its factory in Newark, Delaware....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6360785.stm

Radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has left Iraq for Iran, the senior US military spokesman in Baghdad says. Gen William Caldwell said Moqtada Sadr left some time last month. However the cleric's aides strongly denied he had left. One Iraq government official also said Moqtada Sadr was in the holy city of Najaf on Tuesday. Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army is one of the key forces in Baghdad but he has vowed not to interfere with the new government crackdown on militias. Gen Caldwell's comments came as Iraqi and US forces implemented a new security "surge" in Baghdad, temporarily closing the borders with Syria and Iran, and extending the curfew in the capital. Gen Caldwell said Moqtada Sadr had been tracked very closely. "We will acknowledge that he is not in the country and all indications are in fact that he is in Iran," the general said....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6361453.stm